Patient Stories: Savannah and Holland Emery
At the Haley Center for Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, children facing serious illness are met with clinical expertise and deeply personal care. This combination gives families not only treatment, but a true team working toward the same goal.
When the Emery family moved from California to Florida in 2022, they already knew their way around a hospital. Their youngest daughter, Holland, had been diagnosed with a bleeding disorder called Immune Thrombocytopenia (ITP) at just 18 months old. Before the family even arrived in Florida, they knew they would work with the Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children team to ensure Holland received the best care.
Holland was a brave patient who completed lab work and regular checkups with minimal fuss. After a few years, her condition stabilized and the family settled into a new routine. Then in October 2025, everything changed. During a routine checkup for their 14-year-old daughter, Savannah — prompted by a concerning lump under her arm — doctors found something unexpected in her bloodwork: acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The Emery family now had two children with serious blood conditions requiring intense care.
The team at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer wasted no time. Dr. Claudia Zapata, who had already led Holland’s care for her blood disorder, told the Emery family she would take Savannah’s case on as well. The three-year relationship they had already built meant weeks, maybe months, of trust-building were bypassed from day one. That continuity of care mattered enormously in those early, overwhelming days.
Savannah’s leukemia was aggressive. Her treatment cycles lasted up to 30 days at a time, and she ultimately spent 112 days living on the oncology floor at the hospital. Cherrie, Savannah’s mom, remembers a revolving door of support from the moment they arrived — nurses, mental health specialists, child life experts and pastoral care, all showing up to help the family navigate what felt like the impossible.
“Everything you can think of to make our stay there comfortable, they thought of it all,” Cherrie said. “Savannah wasn’t just a patient. They truly cared about her.”
Still, the adjustment was hard. There were moments of real darkness. At one point, Savannah stopped talking for several days. She stopped eating, stopped walking and retreated inward as the weight of her diagnosis and the side effects of chemotherapy collided with the reality of what she was missing outside: her friends, her school, the ordinary rhythm of being a 14-year-old.
Then she made a decision. If everything else had been taken out of her hands — where she slept, what she ate, when she woke up for medication — she could at least choose one thing. She asked to shave her head. And from that point forward, her family says, her attitude shifted. She accepted her situation and turned her energy outward.
The care team at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer met her there. Her nurse practitioners invented a daily ritual called the neutrophil dance — a silly, specific routine they performed each afternoon, sprinkling glitter on Savannah and playing a song while her counts slowly climbed. What started as a small act of connection grew into something bigger: at Savannah’s 5K fundraiser, which she attended on a day pass during her hospital stay, 200 people performed the dance together. The care team didn’t just treat Savannah. They saw her.
Because she was often one of the oldest patients on the floor, Savannah found herself drawn to the younger children around her and worked to make sure they felt seen and celebrated during their own stays. That instinct to give back didn’t stop when she was discharged. She now wants to become a nurse, to offer patients the same kind of care she received.
Giving back is already a family mission. The Emerys organized a community 5K that raised more than $15,000 and drew over 200 participants. The event also generated 27 blood donations and more than 20 cheek swabs completed for marrow donor registrations — matches that could save lives for years to come. Savannah directed $10,000 of the proceeds to the oncology floor at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer and nearly $5,500 to the Ronald McDonald House which supported the family during their long-term stay, allowing them to adopt a room for a year.
Savannah is home after finishing her fourth and final treatment cycle and receiving the incredible news that she is cancer free. She rang the bell on April 9, 2026, in front of her family, friends and a hospital team who became family as well.
As she finishes her freshman year of high school from home and works to regain her strength and energy, the Emery family is moving forward with the same gratitude, resilience and fight that carried them through 112 days on the oncology in-patient floor.
